GOLDEN LEAF CANYON LIVH OAK. ,."> 



four inches long, one to two broad: furthermore distin- 

 guished from Q. Garryana by a smaller and more slender 

 acorn, usually in pairs, and relatively deeper cup; buds 

 smaller, oval or nearly tiny egg-shaped, of bright brown 

 cinnamon color, and only slightly hairy in Winter. The 

 sparse and slender tags have the stamens set closer down, etc. 

 From the great liability to confound this species with 

 Garry's Mountain White Oak, it was deemed advisable to 

 note carefully these few particulars. This oak extends higher 

 up the western slope of the Sierras, and is perhaps almost 

 entirely confined to middle and northern California, from 

 foothills to near the coast. 



GOLDEN LEAF CANYON LIVE OAK. 



(Quercus Chrysolepis.) 



"Pleasant it was, when woods were green, 



And winds were soft and low, 

 To lie amid some sylvan scene, 

 Where, the long drooping boughs between, 

 Shadows dark and sunlight sheen, 



Alternate come and go." — Longfelloxc. 



COMPLEMENTARY trees are oftener associated together 

 in the glen with greater variety than on forest hill, 

 broad plain, or along rich alluvial lands of streams. 

 Trees so situated borrow some of their beauty by association 

 and contrast. So is it with the Canon Live Oak. But brevity 

 demands we forego the pleasing enumeration. Suffice to 

 say this Golden Oak of the golden State is allied to the naval 

 Live Oak (Q. virens) of the southern Atlantic Coast, and is in 

 every way its equal. As with that renowned oak, so with 

 this, the best timber is found nearest to the sea coast; but ours 

 of the Pacific are more secluded in habit, being chiefly con- 

 fined to the steepest, nay, inaccessible, deep gorges or canon- 

 sides, and are seldom or never seen in bottom lands. 



This prefatory remark, however, applies only to the prime 

 type, and not so much to several varieties that might be 

 mentioned hereafter. 



In general, this is usually a middle sized tree, not of high 

 stature, say forty to sixty feet, by two to five, rarely ten feet 

 in diameter; the main body not commonly rising high 

 enough to cut saw-logs for ordinary long lumber, not often 

 even in the close and crowded glen — of course, there are a 

 few rare exceptions to any general statement, for in some 

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